Neapolitan Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mold
Butter a mold and arrange the macaroons at the bottom and around the sides.
Spread the sponge cakes with apricot jam.
Set the pudding
Dissolve 1 oz. of isinglass in the hot custard and pour it over the sponge cakes.
Cover the mold tightly and set it aside to cool and stiffen.
Turn out and serve
Once set, turn it out and place bright jelly around the base.
Garnish the top with candied cherries or greengages.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Macaroons
- Form the crisp outer lining and hold the shape of the mold.
- Sponge cakes
- Provide a soft, absorbent base that holds the custard layer.
- Rich custard
- Adds creamy richness and sweetness to the body of the pudding.
- Isinglass
- Sets the custard so the pudding stays firm enough to turn out.
- Apricot jam
- Adds fruity sweetness and helps the sponge cakes bind to the custard.
The step that matters
Dissolving the isinglass in the custard. Isinglass is a gelatin-like setting agent that must fully dissolve in hot custard before pouring. Undissolved granules leave the set uneven and weak, so the pudding may not hold its shape when turned out.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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